1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat lock apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In seat lock apparatuses used to fix a seat to a vehicle body, there has been proposed an apparatus including a body, a hook and a guide lever (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 3908506).
The body is a case member having a substantially recessed shape configured to accommodate the hook and the guide lever. The body has a striker entering groove which a striker provided on either the vehicle body or the seat enters. The hook engages with the striker that has entered the striker entering groove to restrain the striker. The hook is supported by the body in such a way as to move from a restraining position where the hook restrains the striker in a striker releasing direction for releasing the striker. Also, the hook is biased in a direction opposite to the striker releasing direction by a spring. The guide lever is configured to hold the hook which has moved in the striker releasing direction in a waiting position. The guide lever includes a hook engagement portion, which is configured to engage with a guide engagement portion provided to the hook, and a striker abutment portion configured to abut with the striker. The guide lever is supported by the body in such a way as to move from an engagement position, in which the hook engagement portion is in engagement with the guide engagement portion of the hook, in a disengaging direction for canceling the engagement. Also, the guide lever is biased in a direction opposite to the disengaging direction by a spring.
In a seat lock apparatus of this type, the waiting position for the hook is set to a position which is situated further in the striker releasing direction than a striker releasing position where to release the striker. Further, the guide lever is made to move in the disengaging direction when the striker abutment portion is pushed in a direction toward a deepest portion of the striker entering groove. Therefore, the engagement of the guide engagement portion of the hook with the hook engagement portion of the guide lever is cancelled when the striker that has entered the striker entering groove presses on the striker abutment portion, whereby the hook is moved to the restraining position to restrain the striker. On the other hand, when the hook staying in the restraining position is moved to the waiting position, the hook is held in the waiting position.
In the above-described related-art seat lock apparatus, the striker does not have to move the hook in the striker releasing direction when restraining the striker, and therefore, it is possible to restrain the striker with a light operation force. Further, when the striker is released, the striker abutment portion of the guide lever presses on the striker. Therefore, it is possible to allow the striker to depart from the striker entering groove with a light operation force.